It’s kind of crazy when I stop + think about how close I live to Rocky Mountain National Park + I’ve only been a handful of times in the past 7 years.
My friends and I hiked the trail to Alberta Falls, which was just under 2 miles out + back. When we got to the falls, however, we were still feeling pretty good so we opted to continue up the trail to the Loch, which was a more strenuous hike that came out being just under 6 miles total.
The trail ran mostly alongside a river, which is my favorite kind of hike. The perfect soundtrack to any hike is definitely the sound of rushing water. And once we reached the Loch, we were able to sit on the water’s edge + cool our feet off in the water. And it was definitely cold water – on our way up there, we had to hike over a large area of snow that was still covering the trail. In July! No time of year is really safe from the occasional snowfall at such a high elevation.
Over the course of the hike, we gained about 1000 feet of elevation, starting just above 9000 feet + ending over at 10,000 feet above sea level.
One of the best things about living in Denver is that you can spend the morning hiking in a National Park with amazing mountain vistas + in the evening, you can find yourself dancing the night away at a sushi restaurant where your friend is the DJ – which is, as you might have guessed, exactly what I ended up doing that night.
It’s a crazy, wonderful thing. I feel so fortunate that I can have the city life I enjoy while also being so close to the escape + serenity of nature.
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